Oh, so funny.

This site is hilarious, and also true. I find myself nodding to a lot of things on this blog thinking, "Yup, that's me!"

Stuff White People Like

So, in honor of that, I'd just like to say, I'm voting for Barack Obama, and once I'm done, I'm taking my fair trade coffee and moving to Canada while I listen to Mos Def. ;)

and so they all become critics

I joined Netflix this weekend.

Reject movies: Suburban Girl; El Crimen Ferpecto

Winners: Wedding for Bella; Spellbound

Netflix is my new best friend.

The Song of the Day blog has been resurrected to remind you of my ecelectic taste.

LA pictures

Go here to check out pictures from LA!

I was photographer for most, some were done by Jack.

Good.

Job = Good
Life = Good

It's all good right now. Just thought I'd let you know.

Minnesota Cold (Part 2) Pounding a Nail with a Frozen Banana

Plus, this week's exciting forecast:

Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around -20. Wind chill values between -38 and -43. Blustery, with a west northwest wind between 15 and 21 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.

Wednesday: Partly sunny and cold, with a high near 4. Wind chill values between -33 and -43. West northwest wind between 7 and 10 mph.

when your little dreams come reality....

Yesterday:

1. Went to an 8am orientation for work downtown. After finally finding parking and getting there, I was ecstatic to know that in one short month, I can have health insurance. Dental insurance. Life insurance. Paid time off.

2. Was inspired by another new employee who talked about working for a non-profit being her dream since she'd graduated from college. I'm so thankful that I was able to get into the non-profit world faster than many.

3. Met many employees at my office - too many to remember! Every single one of them nice, ecstatic to meet me (even if they just came down for the donuts and fruit!)

4. Encouraged as my supervisor commented that I "catch on fast" and she's willing to let me learn things at my pace

5. I have a computer account and e-mail address, soon will have a direct phone number.

6. Went to a dinner for one of my volunteer places. Took a student home, she makes my day every time I see her.

7. Went to bed early, only to realize my work day doesn't start until 10am!

It's a good start to the week, didn't encounter "a case of the Mondays" - my pipe dream of working for a non-profit has finally come to truth. It will be a long road still, but there I am.

good things, every day...

in no particular order....

1. Enjoying wonderful California weather while it was barely (or sometimes not even) 0 degrees in Minneapolis.
2. Seeing a best friend in happy situations when we expected sad situations...
3. Anticipating the start of a new job in under 24 hours.
4. Cereal nights!
5. Seeing mission-style architecture
6. Getting to know my sister (-in-law) better.
7. Loving on some dogs
8. Dreaming of owning my own dog someday
9. The weather looking up, at least for a little while
10. Laughing, laughing, and more laughing

It's been a good long while. God is so good.

the times, they are a changin'

Hello friends.

I have exciting news for you! I will be starting a new job 2 weeks from Monday! I just found out yesterday that I got a job with a non-profit agency working as the front desk receptionist/hotline answerer.

So, that means, without having to go into major explanation, that I have 2 weeks off before I start a new job! I'll be seeing my dad, going to LA to see brother and sister-in-law, and then my best friend and almost-sister will be coming to see me right before I start my job!

I'm super excited and would love to post more about it later, but I thought I would let fellow readers know that I'm switching jobs! And, thanks to those of you who put up with a lot of complaining, tears, and frustration. Hopefully that will be gone from my life in regards to my job for a while!

Hope you are all doing well, also :)

a real-life anecdote:

For those of you looking for some humor, give this one a try:

As of yesterday afternoon, my boss tells everyone that we'll be having our "Holiday Party" on Tuesday night. This hereby qualified as our 28 hours' notice. He tells us vaguely that we'll be going to "Buca" although he doesn't know where. We'll be leaving at 5pm.

At 5pm, we're waiting in the front of the office for our boss to show up. A variety of people have either real or made-up excuses as to why they are not coming. The rest of decide we want the free food. We soon discover that our boss is in the other room getting a chiropractic adjustment. So we have to wait for him in order to go.

Then, deducing that only he knows how to get to the restaurant, the rest of us agree to follow him. Being the entirely individualistic society that we are, WE ALL TAKE SEPARATE CARS. That's right, separate cars.

We then proceed to follow my boss, who puts on his hazard lights for the entire trip, going roughly 20 mph in a 40mph zone. On our way there, we then turn around in a random parking lot, him leading with 4 cars behind him, following.

We eventually arrive at the restaurant to eat Italian (which tasted very good, by the way!), but not before laughing at how ridiculous we were!

On a more nostalgic note, some picture from a visit from dear Becca this past weekend:Happy to see each other!

Sad that Sarah can't be here with us!

potpourri

Finally, the long awaited answers...

1. The sun is hot and that old clock is movin' slow, and so am I. The workday passes like molasses in wintertime, but it's July. (Five O'Clock Somewhere - Alan Jackson/Jimmy Buffet)

2. Any man of mine better be proud of me, even when I'm ugly he still better love me. I can be late for a date that's fine, but he'd better be on time. (Any Man of Mine, Shania Twain)

3. All my bags are packed and ready to go, I'm standing here outside your door. I hate to wake you up to say goodbye. (Leaving on a Jet Plane - multiple artists)

4. When you're in your little room and you're working on something good. But if it's something good you're gonna need a bigger room. n (Little Room - The White Stripes)

5. Maybe it was the moonlight, the scent of you on the breeze. Maybe it was your shadow fell over me. Such a beautiful stranger... (My Heart is Lost to You - Brooks & Dunn)

6. Coke bottle glasses, I'm sitting in the corner with my finger up my nose....another day of sch0ol with my friends. (Suckerpunch - Five Iron Frenzy)

7. He said I was in my early 40s, with a lot of life before me, and a moment came and stopped me on a dime. I spent the next days look at the x-rays... (Live Like you were dyin' - Tim McGraw)

8. When I was born, they looked at me and said, what a good boy, what a smart boy, what a strong boy. (What a Good Boy - Bare Naked Ladies)

9. Sometimes, some crimes, go slippin through the cracks. But these two gumshoes are pickin up the slack. (Chip & Dale, Rescue Rangers - Disney Afternoon)

10. Yeah we're comin' to your city. Gonna play our guitars and sing you a country song. (Comin' to your City- Big & Rich)

11. She's gonna break soon, gonna break soon, gonna break soon. So many problems in her life, it really comes as no surprise. (She's gonna break soon - Less Than Jake)

12. No, no, no, no, don't phunk with my heart. I wonder if I take you home, would you still be in love? (Don't Phunk with my Heart - Black Eyed Peas)

13. I play chicken with the train, play chicken with the train. (Chicken with the Train - Cowboy Troy)

14. I was working in the lab late one night when my eyes beheld an eerie sight when the monster from my slab began to rise, and suddenly before my eyes... (Dr. Demento - Monster Mash)

15. They think we're nothin, are we nothing? No! They think they've got us, do they got us, no! Even though we ain't got hats and badges we're a union just by sayin' so... (The World Will Know - Newsies!)

16. Goodnight my angel time to close your eyes and save these questions for another day. I think I know what you've been asking me, I think you know what I've been trying to say. (Lullaby - Billy Joel)


Enjoy!

Merry 2 days after Christmas

Hello my friends...

A very merry 2 days after Christmas and not quite New Year's wish to all of you.

I hope your Christmas was great or is going well! Mine was quite lovely - I managed to get home, hang out with family, see some good friends, eat much too much food, and hear Pastor Herm preach twice!

Things are pretty much back to normal over here - I'm back to work again, which was a little rough after having 4 days off, but it's not going too badly :) I got a new camera for Christmas, so you'll be seeing some fun pictures up here when I get the chance to take them off my computer!

Best wishes to you!

try this...

You might surprise yourself... check out this quiz that the Washington Post put together about republican and democratic presidential candidates and their answers to 25 different questions.

Note: When you choose how "important" an issue is to you, you are choosing the number of points that you attribute to the unknown candidate. If no answers work for you, pick any answer and just say "not important."

Check it out!

life is good

Finally, pictures from Thanksgiving! A fun picture at the Parthenon...

And bowling fun for 99 cents a lane!
Other than that, life moves on. I'm working a lot, but I enjoy my job so it's all good.

We're getting our 5th roommate this weekend. She's nice, so I'm excited to see how things work out. It will be an adjustment, but I think a good one.

I was thinking the other day... do you ever buy things on sale just because they are on sale? I have a pair of jeans that I bought on sale that I never really wear. I think I may have bought them, not even needed jeans, for the sole fact that they were so cheap. Anyone else do that? Anyone else do that with things other than clothes?

vacation in a list.

a list of all things good this weekend, in no particular order:

- good friends and laughter
- falling asleep during Hairspray, which turned out to be a wise choice
- being named Boggle Queen
- Mall Madness!
- hanging out with someone's family and not feeling awkward
- scads of wonderfully fun and hilarious photos
- a pause to watch one YouTube video turns into watching YouTube for 2 hours.
- videos like these: Love Song ; Llama ; Miss South Carolina ; and The iRack
- depriving myself of sleep for the mere purpose of spending more time with people
- meeting Kelly Pickler
- falling into our friendships like we'd never been apart
- 99 cent bowling!

There are so many more things to list, but there's just no time or space. It was great. Even being sleep deprived is worth it. Tonight I sleep scads to make up for it, and back to work again tomorrow!

I reign victoriously.

That's right. I win. Finally. With a little help.

Internet is here! We finally have internet at our house, wirelessly nonetheless. As of 9:45pm tonight, I can now check-a my e-mail, post-a on my blog, and have-a smile! So, you can e-mail me in the hoardes. Comment frivolously. I shall be here to read, respond, and recycle!

In other news... I've changed positions at my job. I will now be working in the clinic as the receptionist/office manager. Things changed because of some other employee-related things, but it's all good on my end, because now I have the job that I originally applied for, plus I understand my boss better, so I think it's great. Plus, I don't have to dress up for work anymore - I have scrubs to wear! Hooray! No more dressy clothes that eat my money fund!

So, all is good over here. How are you?

i know, it's been forever.

I'm sorry I haven't posted in forever.
We still don't have internet at our house, and the latest guess is sometime between Nov/Dec-ish. Who knows.

I spent the weekend in Sheboygan with Sarah and Rosh. It was fantastick.

hanging out, getting good pictures together!

Matthias was as cute as could be!

It was a great weekend and nice getaway. Hope you're doing well.

Not just any place...

Well, friends, I sit in the coffee shop for what may just be the last time to pilfer internet.

That's right, we have promise of internet next week. We got the official flyer in the mail this week and they say they can get it going for us. 2 months later, it's finally going to happen! I am feeling much excitement, and quite thusly enjoy talking in such manner.

And, I'm going to a Halloween Parade today. And not just any parade...a parade in the Halloween Capital of the World.

That's right. Maybe they're self-proclaimed like LeMars and their ice cream, but it's quite exciting to be going. Although, it's a tad chilly out, so that is not the highlight of the day, but I'm quite excited for the parade. Apparently they throw out free candy. Hoorah.

Well, then, I shall go and get groceries before going to the parade in...where was that? Oh, yes...the Halloween Capital of the World.

let's see how far we've come.

friends, it's been over 5 weeks since I moved to my home in Minneapolis.

I have something monumental to share with you:

I have plans this weekend!

That's right. I am hanging out with some friends this weekend (no, they're not my roommates) as well as spending some time volunteering.

I'm so excited, as you can probably tell. I've not been very proactive, but a new potential friend took the initiative, called me up, and said, "Come hang out."

So, it's all working out in its own time. I'm so happy now, plus I have tomorrow off of work :)

Have a great weekend!!

650.

That's how many phone calls we have to make yesterday and today.

I'm writing this because I'm taking a much needed morning break. Yesterday I probably called over 180 doctors, some of whom I had to call back.

Today will mark 40 hours of work this week. Lucky me, I'm working this weekend, too.

At least I get Monday off. And probably more time off because I'll work more than 8 hours this weekend.

I hope you're all doing well. While I may be making many phone calls, I do have a job and I'm not making phone calls 40 hours a week for the rest of my life. Because then I would quit.

I really do hope you're doing well. What is new with you?

settled.

Good/God things are happening:

- I've been at my job for 10 official work days.
- Volunteers came and painted at our house yesterday...goodbye aqua stairs!
- I found a church I enjoy
- I've met people at church and played dutch bingo...of course they're either from or know people from NW Iowa!
- All of my stuff is finally unpacked and "in its place" in my bedroom. I'm really happy with how my desk looks.


Now all we need is internet at our place and we'll be golden. They say it will probably be another 2-3 weeks. Sigh. It will be worth all the money we save, though.

God is good. Good is God.